Issam Sultan, managing director of UK flight support company FltCtrl.
Paperless Office - for real?

Look around your office, most likely you will see a lot of paper all around you, stacked in paper trays, and filed in rows of filing cabinets. Else if you don't and you work from a real paperless office - consider yourself one of the lucky ones, and you don't need to read this post.

Realistically, deciding to go paperless is a daunting project and should not be taken light-heartedly. I am not here to debate the environmental impact of going paperless but rather to shed light on what you gain in terms of efficiency once you achieve a paperless office. It's easier now more than ever to reach a paperless office - and here's how it can be done.

Yet, before we dive into this, it's important to look at one main reason why we still use paper. Government regulations! Given the fact that some governments around the world are still hooked on paper documents, even if you want to go paperless, this can't be achieved. From legal and regulatory necessities, electronic records are not enough. For example, more Civil Aviation Authorities are now adopting the use of Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) solutions but still insist on seeing aircraft documents in physical form.

Furthermore, you can argue the fact that paper documents have been around for ages and can still be read regardless how old while electronic copies created and saved on floppy disks can't be accessed any longer (check this link if you don't know what a floppy disk is). Or you one of those people that simply like the feel of paper! If that's the case, let me point out some of the benefits of going paperless.

Electronic documents are:

• Clutter-free - read my earlier post on the benefit of having a clutterless office.
• More accessible - you can access your documents remotely regardless where you are at using tools like https://get.gotomypc.com/ and https://www.teamviewer.com/en/.
• Effortless to store - an entire archive can be stored on one external drive.
• Easier to share - with a click of a button you can share a whole set of files with your team, customer, or supplier.
• Faster to search - Instead of wasting time searching for a critical document in a pile of files, you can just enter a search term into your computer and voila you have what you are looking for.
• Cheaper - look at the amount of money being spent on printing supplies or courier services.

To test and see how your efficiency will increase while your overall cost decreases, all it takes is implementing the following few simple steps to reduce paper use in your daily workflow:

Stop Printing

Tracking who is printing might be a gruesome task depending on the printer setup you have in your office. Check if your printer tracks the number of print jobs by users - if so keep an eye on these logs and make a point to inform those who print a lot not to do so unless necessary. Additionally, replace smaller less efficient printers with just one more efficient printer with duplex printing capabilities (printing on both sides of paper) and place it as far as possible from the entire team - you will see how they will tend to print less if the printer is not near to them. Still, if they need to print a document have them print using both sides of the sheet of paper.

Switch to electronic statements

If you haven't done so already, request paperless statements from your banks and other service providers. Also, consider paying your bills using online banking. Most online banking service nowadays store payee details, so it is easier to make repeat payment with minimum data entries.

Utilize Cloud-based apps

Online applications like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, or Box make it very convenient to store, backup and share your documents. Furthermore, these services use encryption to help keep your data safe from unwelcome intrusions. Not to mention, the added value of improving collaboration when using such apps.

Update your processes

One critical area that you need to work on is updating your current workflow if you aim to decrease the amount of paper use in your office. Generate reports using Adobe Acrobat in PDF format, which in turn can view and read using smartphones or tablets. Another good use of Adobe Acrobat is creating forms that can be filled and submitted electronically without the need of printing (plus it will be easier to import and process data in this manner and reduce mistakes made by data entry and deciphering some horrible handwriting).

Invest in better hardware

Using larger monitors (or multi-monitor setup) makes it easier for your team to view, process, and cross-reference more than one document at the same time - in turn eliminating one of the main reasons printing was needed in the first place. Also, consider buying a couple of cheap personal flatbed scanners and placing them on your team's workstations making it easier for them to scan and share documents they are working on electronically. Train your team to scan documents using OCR (optical character recognition) software making it easier to search and find documents when needed. Else, you can utilize smartphone apps such as Genius Scan that also quickly capture photos of documents and turn them into digital PDFs that are easily shared.

Switch to electronic Fax

Even though I believe Fax is a relic and should only be an exhibit in a museum, some contacts we work with (a couple of Civil Aviation Authorities I am not willing to name at the moment) still insist on using Fax for their communication. To reduce the use of paper in these cases, switch to the use of an online fax provider that can deliver inbound and outbound faxes from your email inbox. A good and tested provider is eFax.

Electronically Sign Documents

Depending on where your business is set up, most countries now legally accept electronically signed contracts as legally binding. If that is the case in your country, then stop printing documents just because you need to sign them.

Don't forget to Backup (regularly)

It is easy to store electronic documents, and unfortunately, it is even easier to delete them. To avoid any sad scenarios, remember to backup your files on regular basis. I suggest that you have two sets of backups - an online backup using services like https://www.backblaze.com/ or https://www.carbonite.com/ - and another backup using an external hard drive like a WD PR4100 My Cloud Pro Series (it starts from 4TB up to 40TB - depending how much data you need to backup).

Finally, it is essential to have your team involved when taking on this project else if they are not fully on board it will be a challenging transition for all involved and will add to the stress in your office. Again, "Paperless Office" has been a subject of discussion with business gurus for ages but now with cutting-edge technology and readily available solutions, it's easier than ever to accomplish. Going paperless has its advantages, allowing you to run your business from anywhere and access what you need when needed.

The future is digital.

www.fltctrl.com

About the Author

Issam Sultan is the Managing Director of FltCtrl Ltd headquartered in London, UK. Combined, the company’s team of professionals, FltCtrl has over 40 years of aviation industry experience and currently specialises in developing aviation IT solutions to the aviation industry.

While working in the UAE with flight support services firm RamJet Aviation Support for more than 17 years, Issam became increasingly frustrated by the complexity of the flight operations process – it was crying out to be simplified. Aviation requires quick decision making and to do this, one needs to have all the relevant information at their fingertips. Team synchronicity is invaluable. From that seed, the idea for FltCtrl was sown. Using the latest technology, FltCtrl has also started Flock.aero, a Community Driven Aviation Directory that aims to give aircraft operators and suppliers the power to connect and succeed in their business. At its very core Flock is a directory of all the airports and suppliers operating at these airports, but more importantly it is a platform where operators and suppliers can connect and find new opportunities to improve their business operations.